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Includes:•Charles River Editors original biography of Pericles•Pericles Funeral Oration•The Life and Times of Pericles and the Golden Age of Athens by Evelyn Abbott•The Life of Pericles and Comparison of Fabius and Pericles by Plutarch"Future ages will wonder at us, as the present age wonders at us now. We do not need the praises of a Homer, or of anyone else whose words may delight us for the moment, but the estimation of facts will fall short of what is really true. PericlesIn conjunction with the founding of democracy, Athens ushered in the Golden Age of the Ancient Greeks, which saw the invention or mastery of everything from mathematics and engineering to philosophy and art. And among the Athenians, none were as influential as Pericles, the Wests first great statesman. Leading Athens for upwards of 40 years between the Second Persian War and the Peloponnesian War, Pericles has become an idealized figure over the last 2,000 years, but he was a polarising figure among his contemporaries. Perhaps its not surprising that a man who served his country as orator, politician, statesman and soldier accrued his fair share of tarnish, especially in Classical Athens, a veritable political minefield which could be charitably termed a nest of snakes this is, after all, the same political establishment which exiled Alcibiades, its greatest general, and ordered the death of its greatest philosopher, Socrates. According to some, he was an honest and upstanding politician, while for others he was the lowest kind of demagogue, a political opportunist whose ability to wriggle free of criticism was best summed up by the typically pithy comment of his rival Thucydides (not to be confused by the famous historian of the same name, one of the main sources for Pericless life). When asked who the better fighter was, Thucydides replied, Pericles even when he loses, he still convinces the Athenians hes won. As Strategos, Pericles was Athens commander-in-chief, and the chief architect of the citys strategy, for a period of roughly two decades. Even in his military capacity, Pericles did not escape more than his fair share of criticism, both during his lifetime and all the way to the present day. His grand strategy, which put Athens on the defensive for much of the Peloponnesian War, has been accused by many critics as being too supine and too reliant on himself as its main architect, so when his death came during the first years of the war, Athens ultimate defeat was inevitable. However, it is worth remembering that most of historys great generals planned strategy that was entirely reliant on their own particular species of military genius, so an unexpected, early death is hardly a valid reason to condemn an entire plan of operations. Even his prowess as an orator, on which Pericles built his political career, is questioned. The main source for the wording and content of his speeches is the historian Thucydides, but since he recorded the speeches from memory, it is unclear how much of the speeches are Pericless words, and how much was put into his mouth by Thucydides. The Ultimate Pericles Collection looks at the life and career of the legendary Athenian statesman, including an original history of the life and legacy of Pericles and biographies of him by Plutarch and Evelyn Abbott. It also includes Pericles famous funeral oration as written by Thucydides in his history of the Peloponnesian War. The Ultimate Pericles Collection also includes a Table of Contents and pictures of important people, places, and events in his life.